Resident Portals....leave the advertising out

We wrote about the resident portal a couple of months ago and at the time we also made mention of the idea of using this medium as yet another way toss ads in front of consumers. We call them relevant ads to make ourselves feel better about it. We site the chance to make ancillary income to make ourselves feel good in front of owners and investors but do we really think that consumers want to see more ads? I mean you can't go to the bathroom, eat a meal of an airplane tray table, park your car between two strips (yes, I actually saw an ATT ad on a parking stripe) without seeing a relevant ad.

Check out the latest from Multi-Housing News on the subject;

Property Centric's local search engine offers a number of benefits to the property management industry. By providing on-demand, relevant local information, property managers can offer a resident-centric amenity that meets the lifestyle needs of community residents. "Most people are searching for these services through Google or Yahoo," Remus adds. "We do it in a very easy-to-read format, cutting down their search time."

Another key benefit, Property Centric's search solution allows for paid search placement and banner advertising by local and national advertisers to market their products and services to area residents via a community's Web site. This provides a significant ancillary revenue stream for the property manager. [Multi-Housing News]